Elliot Elgart

Best known as an extraordinary painter and teacher, Elliot Elgart also leaves a rich legacy as a husband, father and grandfather. Elliot was a great friend, insightful mentor and an inspiration to countless students and colleagues at UCLA where he taught from 1958 to 1991. Born and schooled in Boston, he studied painting and printmaking at the University of Iowa. Throughout his teaching and painting career, he excelled as a colorist and draftsman moving easily from figurative to abstract work. His deep knowledge of history and art enriched his paintings, but at the heart of his work was a rich emotional and self-reflective landscape.

He is dearly loved and will be deeply missed by his wife Charlene, his brother Ernie (Nancy), his children Sarah and Matthew, his grandchildren Zola and Sylvie, his son-in-law Stephen Glassman, his many other family members and his numerous friends, colleagues and students. He is predeceased by his first wife, the mother of his children, Judith, as well as by his elder brother David, both of whom passed away in 2000. In the early nineties, Elliot along with several other LA based artists founded the First Independent Gallery (FIG) which is still a fixture at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, CA.